Investing.com – Asian equity markets were in the green Friday morning, as gains in tech shares drove U.S. stocks up for a fourth day running and helped strengthen optimism in Asian markets.
Overnight, the S&P 500 closed up 0.53% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 0.57%, while the Nasdaq Composite also rose 0.75%. U.S. equities extended gains even after U.S. President Donald Trump threw cold water Thursday on the idea of trade talks with China.
Trump tweeted on Thursday, “The Wall Street Journal has it wrong, we are under no pressure to make a deal with China, they are under pressure to make deal with us. Our markets are surging, theirs are collapsing. We will soon be taking in Billions in Tariffs & making products at home. If we meet, we meet?”
Reports on Wednesday suggested that U.S. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin had invited Beijing officials in for talks in Washington to de-escalate jitters of a trade war. China’s Ministry of Commerce spokesperson Gao Feng said on Thursday that Beijing has received the invitation and is working on the details with the U.S.
Trade tensions between the two snowballed after Trump threatened last Friday to impose tariffs on virtually all Chinese exports. Beijing vowed to retaliate, rattling markets.
China’s Shanghai Composite extended on Friday morning gains from Thursday and opened up 0.04% and the SZSE Component also rose 0.65% at 9:30PM ET (01:30 GMT). Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index was up 0.48%.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 climbed 0.79% and South Korea’s KOSPI also advanced 1.13%. Down under, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 edged up 0.43%.
Markets also took in a decision on Thursday by Turkey’s central bank to raise interest rates to 24% as the country undergoes a currency crisis. The move goes against the wishes of President Recep Erdogan, who was keen to keep rates low. The Turkish lira is down about 60% against the U.S. dollar year-to-date, but after the central bank’s announcement, it gained about 4% on the day.
“The rate hike is a welcome signal for international financial markets. The sharp depreciation of the [Turkish currency] means that previously high external imbalances are quickly narrowing, which should have a positive impact on the lira,” said Agathe Demarais, principal economist at the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU).
In Europe, the Bank of England decided to hold rates at 0.75% due to “greater uncertainty about future developments in the EU withdrawal process”, while the European Central Bank also kept its benchmark interest rates unchanged.